If I Had a Penny

COLOR: Cider Orange
PRODUCT: Full Set
LENGTH: Short
STYLE: Square
FINISH: Shiny

Why If I Had a Penny?
Before GoFundMe or TikTok Lives, people had to get creative to raise money for a cause. In 1987, Mike Hayes thought up an ingenious fundraising ploy to help pay for his college education. He approached a reporter for the Chicago Tribune who wrote a story in which Hayes convinced 2.8 million people to send him a penny each for his tuition at the University of Illinois. Many sent more. He raised $29,000, one thousand more than his target. An impressive sum that would require donors to give three pennies per person today to raise an equivalent value.